Portuguese footballer handed 50-year ban for assaulting ref

Ricardo Ferreira, a Swiss amateur footballer, has been handed the worst punishment in the history of football when he was banned for 50 years after assaulting a referee in a fourth-division league match.

Despite being on the bench for his side Portugal Futebol Clube throughout the game against SC Worn, Perreira kicked the ball in the referee’s face and then sprayed him with water.

The 28-year-old was banned indefinitely but, as the governing body’s system requires an end-date for a suspension, officials entered 2064.

“We do not want such a player in our league,” Robert Breiter, the lawyer of Switzerland’s amateur football league said.

“Unfortunately, we encounter such cases about once a year.”

Ferreira has previously found himself in hot water with the authorities, having once been banned for 45 matches after being found guilty of assaulting opposition players and officials.

“I had expected one or two years maximum. But 50 years? Football’s my life,” Ferreira was quoted in German in Swiss newspaper Blick.

Ferreira will be free to return to the game on June 5, 2064, when he will be 78.